Succed in Business : About Sales Generation on Social Networking Websites

From Twitter to Facebook, Friendfeed to Ning, social media websites have popped up in massive quantity. This has rewarded internet marketing specialists and online advertisers with a level of access to large groups of targeted audiences that was once impossible to reach. Now, there are even add-ons, web apps, and software that help online marketers easily establish their presences on social networking sites.
Generally, social networking sites are for branding exercises, traffic generation, and community marketing. Because audiences on such sites are known to have mindsets not suited for direct marketing, social media is rarely used successfully as a sales generation platform. However, there are actually huge sales generation opportunities in social networking sites for specific types of products.

Direct Selling Opportunities on Social Networking Websites

Beneath the mismatched businesses and poor planning often observed among businesses and internet marketing specialists engaged in social network marketing, there is potential to social media. This is particularly true for one type of product: the digital product. Digital products, particularly informational products, are inexpensive, easy to purchase, and profitable not just for their manufacturers, but for their marketers – everything that social media marketing demands.

Social networking sites are rarely ideal venues for generating direct sales. However, for products like e-books, audio clips, and other inexpensive non-physical products, the value of such sites can be tremendous. This is especially true when digital products relate to users' social networking activities or specifically target their declared interests.

Don't be Afraid to Experiment With Marketing Platforms Outside of Social Networking Sites

Pay-per-click advertising, search engine optimization, and affiliate marketing models still exist, even with social media fueling most of online business' sales. As internet marketing specialists and online advertisers, it is highly unwise to cut out marketing methods and revenue models in exchange for short-term satisfaction.
Online entrepreneurs and internet marketing specialists should invest in social media without neglecting other potentially profitable methods of client, customer, or promoter acquisition. Other online marketing platforms combined with a properly maintained social network marketing effort will generate a solid online marketing campaign that is sustainable for long term growth and sales generation.

Social networking sites are extremely valuable for developing communities around brands and generating web traffic for online businesses. Because audiences on such sites hate the salesman approach, direct selling rarely works. However, there are sales generation opportunities in social media, specifically for digital products. Nevertheless, social media marketing should never be used by itself as it often works for online businesses and internet marketing specialists only when backed up by a solid and complete online marketing strategy.